Last for boots and shoes



(No Mo I 0' MAN.

LAST FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

No. 256,168. Patented Ap r.11,188-2.

% W K gar? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC- CYRUS P. SHERMAN, OF SOUTH \VEYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE DION LAST COMPANY, OF 'NASHUA, NEW-HAMPSHIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,168, dated April 11, 1882.

Application filed November 3, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

, Be it known that I, OYRUs P. SHERMAN, of South Weymouth, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented a 5 new and useful Improvement in Lasts for Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the lasts so generally used in the manufacture of that class of boots and shoes in which the soles are united to the uppers by wooden pegs. Such lasts, if made of wood, are rapidly worn away by the action of the awl and pegs used in making boots and shoes upon them. It made of iron,

with an open groove in the sole-surface to receive the awl and pegs, the inner sole is not properly supported against the action of the same, and imperfect work is the result.

The object of my invention is to overcome these difficulties.

My invention consists of a last having two parallel grooves near the edge of its sole-surface, separated i'rom each ,other by a wall or partition of rubber or similar elastic material; and, further, of a last having a groove near the edge of its sole-surface, such groove having a supplementary groove along its bottom adapted to receive a strip of rubber, as hereinafter set forth; and, further, my inven- 0 tion consists of a last having upright spurs or projecting points upon such portions of its solesurface as may be necessary to hold the inner sole of a boot or shoe upon the same, such points or spurs being so attached to the last 5 that they may, when bent laterally from their upright position, automatically assume it again; and, further, of a last having upon its sole-surface projecting points or spurs, which are enlarged near their outer ends, as herein- 0 after described.

width and three-eighths of an inch in depth. Along the bottom of this groove, in its center, I make a smaller groove, 1), Fig. 2, about oneeighth of an inch in width and depth. In this supplementary groove I insert and fasten, by cement or otherwise, one edge of a strip of rubber, 0, such strip being of such width that its opposite edge will be flush with the surface of the last, thus dividing the groove into the two grooves a a, separated by the rubberpartition c. In the operation of pegging it is intended that this rubber; partition shall support the inner sole between the row of pegs, thus preventing the sagging of the inner sole into the groove.

At each of the several points upon the solesurface of a last, wherenails or pegs are usually driven to hold the inner sole preparatory to lasting, the upper, I bore a hole (see i i t, Fig. 1) about one-half an inch in diameter and depth, which I fill with a plug of rubber, 1', containing a pointed nail, on 'n, which is of a somewhat greater length than the rubber ph g, so that when in place in the last it forms a projecting spur sufficient to hold the inner sole 7 5 in place when the same is forced down upon it, and also capable of being bent down laterally, and automatically assuming its upright position again.

I am aware that rigid points or spurs have been before used for this purpose; but in practice it is found that such rigid spurs seriously hinder the withdrawal of the last from the shoe. By so attaching the spur to the last that it may be bent down nearly flush withthe surface of the last I overcome this difficulty. The projecting portion of the spur may be en- 7 larged near its point, as shown at n, Fig.2, so as to hold more firmly the material impaled upon it. This forms a distinct feature of my 0 invention, and may be applied to the rigid spurs now used.

I make no claim to anything shown or described in Letters Patent No. 245,942, dated August 23,1881, as the nails or wires there 5 shown do not project beyond the surface of the last, and are for an entirely different purpose.

I claim- 1. A last for a boot or shoe, containing two parallel grooves near the edge of its sole-sur- 10o face, such grooves being separated from each other by a wall or partition of rubber or simi- .lar elastic material, substantially as shown and 4 The last A, containing the elastic plug 1',

with the spur m n, having the head m, substanr5 tially as herein shown and described.

5. The last A, having the grooves a a, the elastic plugs i z z, and the spurs m a, substantially as shown and described.

CYRUS P. SHERMAN.

Witnesses:

STEPHEN MOORE, HOMER ROGERS. 

